Desprate Times
by LunaLover04
Summary: A young girl named Freya finds herself in a world where Suaron took over. She meets up with Legolas who is trying to find his friends who have been taken prisoner by orcs. Together they try to get their world back.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Desperate Times

Freya ran through the woods, her heart pounding. An arrow whizzed passed her head, as she hit a dead end. She drew her dagger and stood her ground.

"Looks like you've got nowhere else to go." the lead orc growled. She took a deep breath and braced herself. The two orcs in the back charged first. She spun to avoid the left orcs blade, and took her dagger and stabbed him in the throat. The second fired 2 arrows that she rolled to avoid, then she sliced into his tendons.

She suddenly felt a shooting pain in her shoulder, then her leg, the world went blurry as she fell to the ground. Freya heard one thing before she passed out. "Step away from her." It was a male voice and it sounded familiar to Freya but before she couldn't place it. The world went black.

She woke up to a gray sealing, she reached for her dagger, but it wasn't there. She tried to stand but when she put pressure on her right leg, it immediately gave out.

"Woah, woah, woah." Freya heard the voice from earlier say. She looked up. It was a middle aged elf, (though on the younger side) blonde hair with blue eyes, he had the look of elven perfection, which was rare even amongst elves. The war left almost everyone scared in some way.

"Where am I?" Freya asked him.

"A cave in the forest outside of Rivendell." he responded. "What's your name?"

She hesitated, for all Freya knew he could be a spy for Sauron, but he saved her from orcs and bandaged her wounds, why would he do that if he was on the other side? "Freya Redwood. Who are you?"

"Legolas Greenleaf."

She was stunned, everyone thought he had died in the war, that's the whole reason Thranduil surrendered to Sauron, he thought his son was dead. "I… everyone thinks your dead. How are you alive?"

"Long story." he said gravely.

"Looks like I'm not going anywhere." She said gesturing towards her leg.

"Well I do." Legolas started to leave. "And don't go anywhere."

When Legolas left, Freya took it upon herself to take a look around, she was mostly just looking for her dagger. There wasn't much in there, except for some extra food rations, a couple weapons, (including Freya's dagger) and some of Legolas's personal items. She never thought much of any of it until she saw a note from a Tara of Paragorn. Freya knew she shouldn't look at it, it was probably personal, but she couldn't help herself.

_Legolas,_

_I will meet you at the crossroads of Rivendell, bring weapons, we will make our final stand on the eve of terror._

Her head began to spin, what the hell did she mean? Were they going to storm Mordor? They would have to be mad to try that. They would end up getting themselves killed. But if that's not what she meant, what were they planning to do? And what was the _eve of terror_? Could she be any more vague? Freya could have stayed there all day, lost in her own thoughts, but she heard the shuffling of leaves. Freya put the note down as rushed to the spot Legolas left her.

He came in with two rabbits that he had hunted in the woods. Wordlessly, he made a fire and put the rabbits over it.

"While we wait for those to cook," Legolas said, "I'm going to need to change your bandages." He reached out and touched Freya's arm. She flinched back instinctively, she never liked people touching her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I have to change these bandages or they will get infected."

Freya thought for a moment. Legolas has given her no reason not to trust him. But she had spent her entire life running from not only orcs, but elves as well. "Ok." She said eventually. If Freya wanted to survive, she needed to learn how to trust him.

Legolas changed her bandages. He could see she was tense. Legolas couldn't imagine what this girl had been through. She had to have grown up as a slave to the orcs, and possibly elves too. This was also the first time he had really gotten a good look at Freya. She appeared human, though Legolas wasn't sure. She had auburn hair, and young grey eyes. She looked no older than 14. Her body was also covered in scars. There was a particularly deep one across her lip. He wanted to ask how she'd gotten it, or any of her scars for that matter, but Legolas could tell she was uncomfortable enough, without going into probably traumatic memories.

He finished bandaging up her up, and took the rabbits off the fire. "Here." He said.

"Not hungry." Freya lied

"I'm not going to poison you. You need to eat."

Freya hesitated, but eventually took the rabbit and ate it slowly.

"How did you end up fighting those orcs?" Legolas asked suddenly.

"I tried to escape the camps." Freya responded shyly.

Legolas knew what she was talking about. Orcs had set up concentration camps for the men, dwarves and any of the woodland elves that didn't follow him. He still couldn't imagine a child like this in a horrific place like that. "How did you escape with your life?"

"Umm…" Freya stammered nervously. "I spent months digging under the prison. I'm the only one who knows about it, and if anyone found it, they would have plugged it up."

Legolas looked at her curiously. It had to have takes immense amount of patience to do that. It must have been worse in there then Legolas thought…

He hesitated before asking his next question. "Family?"

Freya shifted in her seat. "None that I know of."

Before either of them knew it, the sun had gone down.

"I'll watch the camp." Legolas said as he left the cave.

Before he left Freya asked him, "Do you ever sleep."

Legolas held back a small laugh. "No, I suppose not."


	2. Chapter 2- Nightmares

**_***Ok a couple of authors notes that I forgot to put before the 1st chapter, because I'm a professional_**

**_1st, this is mostly based of the movies, I am currently reading the books, but I am far more familiar with the movie._**

**_2nd, I apologize in advance for the probably numerous retcons I will make to the story. Same goes for any spelling or grammar mistakes I will make. I am just a Lord of the Rings fan who doesn't know what she's doing._**

**_3rd, I will be taking my own liberties with the story. I might add races that weren't in the books or movies, or changing the rules of magic._**

**_Lastly, I want to thank WordsAreMagic-SoAreWe. They are amazing and have been helping me write and publish this fan-fic. They also wrote the first fan-fic I ever read. It's call On The Brink, it's is very good and it's far better then mine. Go check them out, I guarantee it will be worth your time._**

**_Ok, enough stalling. Enjoy!***_**

Chapter 2- Nightmares

Legolas sat outside the cave, sharpening his daggers. His mind never seemed to calm, his thoughts running a million miles. Specially, about Freya. Legolas felt so much sympathy for her. Valar knows what she'd been through or what she had seen. He wanted to press her about it. Mostly because his two best friends had been taken prisoner by orcs, he didn't even known if they were alive. But he knew better. Freya barely let Legolas touch her, she was certainly wasn't going to be comfortable going through all her past traumas.

Freya tried to sleep, but couldn't. She hated having to rely on someone else. For her entire life the only person she could rely on was herself. Having to put trust in a complete stranger, or anyone for that matter, was not easy for her. But eventually her eyes fluttered closed and sleep overtook her.

Legolas went inside the cave to find Freya in a cold sweat, in the middle of a nightmare.

"Freya!" He said shaking her awake.

She bolted up, panicked. "What, oh..." Freya fought back a small tear.

"What's the matter?" Legolas asked her.

Freya hesitated. "Umm... back at the camps they put everyone into slave labor, and uhh... I was dreaming about this one day a couple years ago. I stole some food from the kitchens, and they noticed. The elves came out to find the person who did it." Freya was crying now. "And a man that I didn't even know took the fall. I watched them run him through. He's dead because of me."

Legolas didn't say anything for a long time. What could he say? It was bad enough that she had to watch someone die for her, but it his people that were responsible. Finally, he just silently grabbed her hands and squeezed it. This time Freya didn't flinch away. They just sat there until they both fell asleep.

Freya was sleeping peacefully when Legolas started to scream in his sleep.

"Legolas!" She whispered as she shook him awake.

Legolas woke up and instinctively grabbed one of his daggers and put it against Freya's throat. Once he came to his senses and saw it was Freya, he removed it. "Oh... sorry."

"You were screaming." Freya told him, "What were you dreaming about?" Legolas didn't answer, just stared into the wall. "You made me open up, and it made me fell a lot better."

He looked at her curiously, Freya just kept surprising him. "Back when we were fighting Sauron, my friends, Gimli and Aragorn, had been taken by orcs. They were carrying them back, and I ran. I could have saved them, but I was too cowardly. I failed."

"You didn't fail." Freya said simply. "You can't blame yourself for something out of your control."

Legolas withheld a smile. "You should look in the mirror sometime."

"What do you mean?"

He let a small laugh leave his lips. "You blame yourself for that man being killed, when you had no control over the situation. With Gimli and Aragorn-"

"Aragorn..." Freya cut him off.

"Do you know him?" Legolas asked excitedly.

"Well... no, er kinda, er no, not really. But I have seen him. He tried to break everybody out, we almost made it out, when the orcs took him..."

"Is he..." Legolas stopped himself, he didn't even want to say it.

"I don't know what happened to him after that."

"Gimli?"

"I don't know."

Legolas put his face in his hands, and cried, silently. This time Freya took his hands and they just sat there, until they both fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3- Secrets and Lies

Legolas woke up in the same position he fell asleep in, with Freya holding his hands and leaning on his shoulder. He felt very protective of this young child, she had been through enough pain and suffering.

He got up slowly and put Freya down on the ground. He grabbed his bow and daggers and went hunting.

Legolas walked to a small clearing and hid behind a tree, trying to stay as out of sight as possible. As he sat there, waiting for something to shoot, when his elf ears heard the snapping of a twig. He whipped around and gripped his bow in his hand tightly, but saw nothing. There was a rustling of leaves, bigger than an animal. Legolas knew it had to be an orc.

"Where are you..." He muttered to himself.

—

Freya woke up to find Legolas missing. She assumed he'd just went out hunting, and didn't think too much of it.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Freya grew worried. She knew it was probably irrational, Legolas could take care of himself. But something inside of Freya didn't feel right. She stepped outside the cave, and just sat there, listening.

"Where are you..." she muttered to herself.

—

Legolas's knuckles were white from holding his bow so tightly. There was a loud crash behind him, he whipped his head around and fired an arrow. It hit the orcs right in between his eyes. Blood spurt out of the orcs mouth as he fell to the ground, dead.

Legolas lowered his bow, "That was a close one."

—

Freya sat listening for the sound of Legolas's footsteps.

"Come on, come on." Freya whispered. Then she heard it. The pat, pat of light, elven, footsteps. "There we go."

Freya started to get up, but as soon as she did, her leg gave out under her. She had almost forgotten that only yesterday the orcs had shot her. Her shoulder felt fine, but she couldn't even put any pressure on her leg without pain. Freya reached for a large stick she saw on the ground, to use as a walking stick. She got up, and slowly started walking toward where she heard the sound.

—

Legolas grabbed his arrow, and tore it from the orcs skull. He decided to head back to the cave, there were already extra food rations there, and Freya would probably be awake right now.

He started to head back, when something fell from the tree tops right on top of him. Legolas took the small dagger he kept in his boot and stabbed it right in the eye. He threw the orc off of him, and got to his feet, all in one motion. Legolas grabbed his bow and fired three arrows into his chest, killing him.

Suddenly four more orcs dropped from the trees, all around him. Legolas was surrounded.

—

Every step Freya took hurt her. She thought for a second that she should just go back, that notion went away quickly when she heard a scream. She tried to pick up the pace, but it only hurt her leg more. "Why isn't it healing?" She whispered to herself.

—

Legolas stood there, his bow firmly in his hands.

"Looks like the princeling is alive." The lead orc snarled.

"The boss'll be glad to hear this." Another added.

"Too bad he won't get a chance to meet him." The leader barked.

As the two orcs argued, Legolas weighed his options. He could make a break for it, although he was never one to run from a fight. He could stay and fight, but there was no way to know how many orcs there were. Finally, he made his decision...

—

The pain from Freya's leg was almost unbearable. "Come on, just a little further." Freya's incredible hearing picked up on the low growling of orcs. Legolas was definitely in danger, though Freya wasn't sure how much help she would be in her condition. She didn't want to transform in front of him, she didn't know how he would react. No one reacted positively when they found out what she really was. But Freya felt so guilty about lying to him. He had done nothing but help her, and all she had done was lie to him.

Freya finally saw them. Legolas was surrounded by four orcs, and ten more in the treetops.

Suddenly Legolas fired the arrow from his bow, right into the chest of the lead orc. He barely flinched, he just snapped the end of the arrow off of his chest, and charged. The orc swung his mace at his head, but Legolas was quicker. He ducked and took a dagger from his back and lunged it into the orcs thigh. Blood spurt out covering Legolas's face in the disgusting, black orc blood. He turned and stabbed his other dagger in the orcs chest. He fell to the ground dead. The ten orcs from the treetops jumped down. Legolas was now surrounded by thirteen orcs, they were closing in on him, fast.

"Screw it." Freya muttered under her breath. Her nails began to grow into claws, her normally grey eyes turned a piercing, cold, blue, she grew larger, and larger, fur began growing all over her body. She was no longer a small, freighted, young human girl. She was large powerful wolf.


	4. Chapter 4 Separated

_***I'm so sorry for the wait! I had a bad case of writers block, and I've been really busy. So, I hope it was worth the wait. Not sure how long the next ones going to take, I'm trying my best. Enjoy!***_

Freya while in her wolf form charged the orcs surrounding Legolas. She pushed through them like tissue paper, blood and guts spilling everywhere. When she transformed, she wasn't fully in control of herself. Yeah, she could see, hear and smell what she was doing, but it wasn't fully her.

Legolas has no idea what was going on. One minute he was surrounded by an army of orcs, the next guts were flying everywhere in a blur. He couldn't exactly make out what it was that was attacking the orcs, he just knew it was big, strong and nothing like he had ever seen before.

Suddenly all the fighting stoped. All the orcs were dead, and Legolas got a look at what the beast was. It looked like a wolf, but much larger, with piercing blue eyes. Legolas grabbed and arrow, nocked it into his bow, and aimed it at the wolf.

The beast suddenly began to shrink, its fur shedding right before his eyes, the claws retracting into its paws, the piercing blue eyes began to change into a soft gray. Their was no longer a wolf standing in front Legolas, it was Freya.

"What the-" he started.

"It's a long story, but I can explain." Freya pleaded.

"Your a shapeshifter. I thought only men could be shifters."

"Yeah, most are," she replied nervously. "But every couple of centuries there is one women who gets it."

Legolas looked at her curiously. Part of him was mad. Why hadn't she told him? He had given her no reason not to trust him. Another part of him understood. Freya had been though a lot of trauma and most people probably responded badly when they found out.

"Umm..." Legolas looked down, not wanting to look Freya in the eye. "I need to get moving, I don't know how many orcs are out here."

He headed back to the cave, leaving Freya in the clearing, without another word.

—

Freya stood there, frozen. Her hands were shaking violently. A small tear fell down her cheek. Freya took a deep breath, wiped away her tear, straitened her back, and began to walk. She had made it long enough on her own, she'd be fine.

—

Legolas has made it back to the cave. He grabbed his stuff and decided to move on, he couldn't risk staying in one spot for very long anyway, and he had to get to meet Tara, and that was still about a days ride away. Before he left he remembered his young friend. He wanted to go back and find her, make sure she was ok, but he couldn't trust her. He didn't work with someone he didn't trust. So against his better judgement, he kept walking.

—

Pain rushed through Freya's leg as she kept walking. She wanted to stop, she wanted to collapse, she wanted to give up, but she didn't. The only thing Freya cared about right now was survival.

There was a rustle in the leaves. Freya drew her dagger slowly. Transforming took a lot of effort, she wouldn't be able to do it again.

Something leaped our at her. Before she even had time to register what was happening, Freya lunged out, and stabbed whatever it was. She finally looked at what had attacked her, it was merely a fawn.

"Oh..." Freya muttered to herself. "Sorry."

As Freya began to slowly and painfully pick herself up, something crashed into her and she let out a scream louder than a banshee. She looked up to see what it was, it was an orc. Freya gripped her dagger and thrust it into the orcs throat, she shoved the ugly creature off of her. She got up, only to see three orcs surrounding her.

"You guys are everywhere." Freya said, more to herself than to the orcs.

"Time to come home." One of the orcs growled.

Freya shifted nervously. She could handle herself against one or maybe two orcs if she was lucky, and she could take on an army in her wolf form. But by herself against three orcs with only her dagger, it was hopeless. So she did the only thing she could think of in that situation. Run.

—

As Legolas was walking, when he heard a blood curtailing scream. He almost instantly recognized it as Freya. He started running in the direction the scream came from. No matter how mad he was at Freya, he wasn't about to let her die.

His expert eft ears allowed him to track Freya relatively effortlessly. He arrived quickly, seeing 2 orcs running through the woods chasing her. He fired an arrow into the head of one of the orcs, the orc stopped in his tracks and collapsed right then and there. The other orc swung his axe, almost taking off Legolas's head. He ducked and took one of the daggers off his back and thrust it into the orcs throat, killing him. Legolas looked around wildly, but Freya was no where in sight.

"Freya!" He called out desperately, nothing. "Freya!"


	5. Chapter 5

Freya woke up in a haze, she didn't dare open her eyes. The air around her was damp, and cold. She felt the ground beneath her, it was hard, definitely rock. Freya knew where she was, back in the camps. That hit her like a ton of bricks. She had worked for almost her entire life, just to get out of this place, and now she was back to square one.

Freya didn't hear any footsteps. Only the breath of one other person. She figured it was another prisoner. One she was sure there were no guards she slowly opened her eyes, and looked around cautiously. She didn't see any orcs or elves, so she got up slowly. This wasn't a place she recognized, and she'd gotten to know these camps pretty well. Freya's cell was next to a couple others, but only one was occupied. A tall, human looking,man with black hair reaching his shoulders and stubble growing on his chin.

"Um..." I stammered not really knowing what to say. "Where are we?"

"An orc camp near the mountains." He responded, keeping his voice low. "They keep the most... dangerous prisoners here."

"Well, I'm not staying here." Freya said in as strong a voice as she could muster, but it was still shaking. "Do you know a way out?"

"If I did do you think I would still be here?" He snapped.

"Then I'll figure a way out of this place myself."

"That's suicide."

"Not for me." Freya smirked. She cracked her neck, and braced herself for transformation. She hesitated slightly. She had spent her entire life hiding this secret and she was about to reveal it at the drop of a hat. On the other had, she had just escaped a prison, she wasn't going to be stuck in this one too. Her gray eyes turned a piercing blue, the wolves fur and claws began to grow. The wolf lashed it giant claws at the bars. Nothing. Not even a scratch. It backed up as far as it could in the small cell, and rammed it's head into the door of the cell. It didn't even bend. The wolf began thrashing and swing it's claws, desperately trying to at least make a dent in the bars. Nothing. The wolf eventually tired it self out and began to shrink back into Freya.

"What in Valar?" She muttered to herself.

"Neat trick." The man said causally. "These bars are made of the strongest metal in Middle Earth, nothing can break them."

"I'll figure out a way." Freya striated her back and tried to make herself feel strong, but in truth, she never felt more weak.

"What's your name kid?" He asked suddenly.

Freya hesitated, she was never someone to randomly give out her name. But this guy was the only person here, and he was behind a cell. What could he do? "Freya." She said eventually. "You?"

"Aragorn."

"Your the guy you fought in the war against Sauron." Freya exclaimed, still trying to keep her voice quiet. "You tried to break everyone out of here."

"Yeah," He said as if he'd told the story a million times. "They took me here after that incident. And fighting in the war, that cost the life of one of my closest friends."

"You mean Legolas."

Aragorn flinched at hearing his name.

"He's not dead."

Aragorn looked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "What?"

"I met him in the woods before orcs attacked and they took me here."

"Legolas is alive." Aragorn didn't know what to think, he'd thought he was dead for so long.

"Yes!" Freya said a little to loudly. She covered her mouth instantly, they both listened for footsteps, but none came. "I think he's meeting a Tara of Paragorn on the outskirts of Rivendell. When we get out of here, we need to-" Freya suddenly heard foot steps coming in there direction.

—

Legolas looked on the ground for tracks. He had been tracking the orcs that had taken Freya for a couple days now. His gut kept churning as he was going further into the forest, closer to the army that had nearly killed him. Legolas flinched at the memory...

Flashback to the war against Sauron.

Legolas shot arrow after arrow. Still not making a dent in the orc army. He ducked at an axe that had almost taken his head off. Legolas took one of his daggers and thrust it into the throat of an orc. He put the dagger back in one of the sheaths on his back and kept shooting arrows. He suddenly felt a shooting pain in his side. He looked down, a great sword was plunged into his right side. Legolas collapsed, he fought to remain conscious, but everything eventually faded and went black.

Legolas's eyes opened slowly. Panic rushed through him as he tried to get up, but he could barely move.

"Slow down." A female voice told him. Legolas looked around to see where the voice came from. He was in a small cabin. In the corner of the room was a half-elven looking women.

"Where am I?" Legolas asked her. "Who are you? What happened?"

"Relax Your Highness." She told him with a bit of snark in her voice. "Your in a cabin right outside of Mirkwood. My name is Tara. Now can you please calm down?"

"What happened?" Legolas repeated.

"That's... a long story."

"What happed?" He said for the third time.

"Um..."

Present

Legolas shivered. He hated that memory. He hated how helpless he had been. He hated that he had failed.

Legolas ran across the forest in the direction he had tracked the orcs that had taken Freya. He suddenly smelled something weird, but a scent that was all too familiar to him. Blood. And smoke. Legolas quickened his pace. He suddenly appeared in an opened field. There was a village in the center that was on fire. Legolas sprinted to the center. All around him were dead bodies, that looked like there hearts had been carved out of their chests.

Legolas stared in horror. "What in Valar?"


End file.
